Kingdom Animalia Class Arachnida Suborder Araneomorphae Scientific name Nephilengys papuana | Phylum Arthropoda Order Araneae Family Nephilidae Rank Species | |
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Similar Nephilengys borbonica, Clitaetra, Nephilengys malabarensis, Nephilengys, Nephilengys cruentata | ||
Nephilengys papuana is a species of nephilid spider.
Contents
These animals are currently considered a population of Nephilengys malabarensis. A recent publication presents the case for them to be reinstated as a full species.
Female body length is about 17 mm, male length less than 5 mm.
Male spiders apparently self-emasculate after copulation.
At least in Nephilengys, this strategy enables remote copulation, a continuation of sperm transfer after males are detached from copula, which is an additional mechanism to secure eunuch paternity (Li et al. 2012). Although Nephilengys papuana eunuchs have not been subject to experimental testing, early research reported incidents of post-mating emasculation in this species (Robinson and Robinson 1980) and thus its behavior is likely to closely resemble that of its sister species.
Name
The species name is derived from Papua.
Distribution
The species occurs in New Guinea and tropical Australia (Queensland).